White House director of legislative affairs Marc Short on Monday argued there has been “significant progress” between lawmakers in the immigration debate, as the government shutdown stretched into its third day.

“I think Democrats have moved significantly toward our position of the physical barriers that we’re asking for — that, actually, the frontline officers at CBP have asked for,” he added, referring to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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The comments from Short come as lawmakers struggle to reach a deal to reopen the government.

Front and center to the negotiations is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which shielded certain immigrants brought to the U.S. unlawfully as children from deportation. Democrats are pushing for a legislative fix to the program, which Trump rescinded last year with a six-month delay.

“So I think that honestly, there’s a lot of progress here,” Short added during the Monday interview.

“What’s hard for us to understand is why we’re having a manufactured shutdown when you’re having progress in negotiations and you’re shutting down the government over an issue that’s not in front of you in the actual bill to keep the government afloat.”